26<\/strong>. there is a great gulf fixed<\/em> ] Change of place<\/em> is not a possible way of producing change of soul.<\/em> Dives while he still had the heart of Dives would have been in agony even in Abraham’s bosom. But 1Pe 3:19-20<\/span> throws a gleam of hope athwart this gulf. It may <\/em> be (for we can pretend to no certainty) no longer impassable, since Christ died and went to preach to spirits in prison. With this “great gulf” compare the interesting passage of Plato on the vain attempts of great criminals to climb out of their prisons. Rep.<\/em> x. 14.<\/p>\n A great gulf – <\/B>The word translated gulf means chasm, or the broad, yawning space between two elevated objects. In this place it means that there is no way of passing from one to the other.<\/P> Fixed – <\/B>Strengthened – made firm or immovable. It is so established that it will never be movable or passable. It will forever divide heaven and hell.<\/P> Which would pass – <\/B>We are not to press this passage literally, as if those who are in heaven would desire to go and visit the wicked in the world of woe. The simple meaning of the statement is, that there can be no communication between the one and the other – there can be no passing from one to the other. It is impossible to conceive that the righteous would desire to leave their abodes in glory to go and dwell in the world of woe; nor can we suppose that they would wish to go for any reason unless it were possible to furnish relief. That will be out of the question. Not even a drop of water will be furnished as a relief to the sufferer.Neither can they pass to us … – <\/B>There can be no doubt that the wicked will desire to pass the gulf that divides them from heaven. They would be glad to be in a state of happiness; but all such wishes will be vain. How, in the face of the solemn statement of the Saviour here, can people believe that there will be a restoration of all the wicked to heaven? He solemnly assures us that there can be no passage from that world of woe to the abodes of the blessed; yet, in the face of this, many Universalists hold that hell will yet be vacated of its guilty millions, and that all its miserable inhabitants will be received to heaven! Who shall conduct them across this gulf, when Jesus Christ says it cannot be passed? Who shall build a bridge over that yawning chasm which he says is fixed? No: if there is anything certain from the Scripture, it is that they who enter hell return no more; they who sink there sink forever.<\/P> <\/p>\n 26. besides all this<\/B>independentlyof this consideration. <\/P> a great gulf fixed<\/B>Byan irrevocable decree<\/I> there has been placed a vast impassableabyss between the two states, and the occupants of each.<\/P><\/p>\n And besides all this<\/strong>,…. The different circumstances of each, both past and present, which should be observed and considered:<\/p>\n between us and you there is a great gulf fixed<\/strong>; as this may regard the state of the Pharisees after death, it intends not the natural distance between heaven and hell; though there may be an allusion to the notions of the Jews concerning that, who on those words in Ec 7:14<\/span>. “God hath set the one over against the other”, say f,<\/p>\n “this is hell and paradise, what space is there between them? an hand’s breadth; R. Jochanan says a wall, but the Rabbans say, they are both of them even, so that they may look out of one into another.”<\/p>\n Which passage is cited a little differently g, thus;<\/p>\n “wherefore did the holy blessed God create hell and paradise? that they might be one against another; what space is there between them? R. Jochanan says, a wall, and R. Acha says an hand’s breadth: but the Rabbans say, two fingers.”<\/p>\n And elsewhere it h is said,<\/p>\n “know that hell and paradise are near to one another, and one house separates between them; and paradise is on the north east side—and hell on the north west.”<\/p>\n Mahomet seems to have borrowed this notion from them, who says i,<\/p>\n “between the blessed and the damned, there shall be a vail; and men shall stand on “Al Araf”, (the name of the wall or partition, that shall separate paradise from hell,) who shall know every one of them by their mouths.”<\/p>\n But not this natural space, be it what it will, but the immutable decree of God is intended here, which has unalterably fixed the state of the damned, and of the blessed:<\/p>\n so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass to us that would come from thence<\/strong>; not that those in heaven can desire to go to those in hell; though those in hell, may wish to be in heaven; but the sense is, that by this irrevocable decree of God, the saints in heaven are eternally happy, and the wicked in hell eternally miserable: and this also agrees with the notions of the Jews k, who represent it impossible: for a man, after he has descended into hell, to come up from thence any more: but as this may regard the Jews state of captivity and affliction, since the destruction of their city and temple, upon, and for their rejection of the Messiah; it may denote the impossibility of Christ’s coming again upon the same errand he came on before, to be a Saviour of sinners, and a sacrifice for sin; and of the Jews believing in him, so long as they lie under the spirit of slumber, and are given up to judicial blindness and hardness of heart.<\/p>\n f Midrash Kohelet, fol 76. 1. g Nishmat Chayim Orat. 1. sect. 12. fol. 31. 1. h Raziel, fol. 15. 1. i Koran, c. 7. p. 120. k Caphtor, fol. 70. 2.<\/p>\n Beside all this <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>).<\/P> In all these things <\/B> (or regions).<\/P> Gulf <\/B> (<\/SPAN><\/span>). An old word from <\/SPAN><\/span>, to yawn, our chasm, a gaping opening. Only here in the N.T.<\/P> Is fixed <\/B> (<\/SPAN><\/span>). Perfect passive indicative of <\/SPAN><\/span>, old verb (see on Lu 9:51<\/span>). Permanent chasm.<\/P> May not be able <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). Present middle subjunctive of <\/SPAN><\/span>. The chasm is there on purpose ( that not <\/B>, <\/SPAN><\/span>) to prevent communication. <\/P> <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 1) “And beside all this,” <\/strong>(kai en pasi toutois) “And among all these things,” of good times and lost opportunities you squandered through all your life.<\/p>\n 2) “Between us and you there in a great gulf fixed:” <\/strong>(metaksu hemon kai humon chasm a mega esteriktai) “Between us and you all (who are there) a great chasm has been firmly fixed,” or immovably established, so that the plea for mercy or pity can not be granted. The decree of separation is irrevocable; Heb 9:27<\/span>.<\/p>\n 3) “So that they which would pass,” <\/strong>(hopos hoi thelontes diabenai) “So that the ones longing (wishing earnestly) to pass,” to come through to you, to offer a little relief, if they could. When men die in unbelief, the door is shut, the die is cast, their doom is forever sealed, Pro 11:7<\/span>.<\/p>\n 4) “From hence to you cannot;” <\/strong>(enthen pros humas me dunontai) “From here directly to you all are not able to do it,” for, the chasm is impassable, 2Th 1:9<\/span>, based on the righteous justice of God.<\/p>\n 5) “Neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.” <\/strong>(mede ekeithen pros hemas diaperosin) “Neither may they cross over from there to us.” Heb 9:27<\/span>; Joh 8:14<\/span>.<\/p>\n 26. A vast gulf lieth. These words describe the permanency of the future state, and denote, that the boundaries which separate the reprobate from the elect can never be broken through. And thus we are reminded to return early to the path, while there is yet time, lest we rush headlong into that abyss, from which it will be impossible to rise. The words must not be strictly interpreted, when it is said, that no one is permitted to pass who would wish to descend from heaven to hell; for it is certain, that none of the righteous entertain any such desire. <\/p>\n (26) There is a great gulf fixed.<\/strong>Literally, a chasm,<\/em> the opening or gaping of the earth. The scene brought before us is like one of the pictures of Dantes Commedia<\/em>steep rocks and a deep gorge, and on one side the flames that burn and do not consume, and on the other, the fair garden of Paradise and the kingly palace, and the banquet at which Abraham presides. And those that are bearing the penalty, or reaping the reward, of their life are within sight and hearing of each other, and hold conversation and debate. It is obvious that no single detail of such a description can be pressed as a literal representation of the unseen world. What was wanted for the purpose of the parable was the dramatic and pictorial vividness which impresses itself on the minds and hearts of men, and this could not otherwise be gained.<\/p>\n So that they which would pass from hence . . .<\/strong>So far as we may draw any inference from such a detail as this, it suggests the thought that the blessed look with pity and compassion on those who are in the penal fires, and would fain help them if they could. They that wish to pass<\/em> are spoken of in tones which present a striking contrast to the vindictive exultation that has sometimes shown itself in Christian writers, such, e.g.,<\/em> as Tertullian (de Spectac.<\/em> c. 30), and Milton (Reformation in England, ad fin.<\/em>).<\/em> A further lesson is, of course, implied, which strikes at the root of the specifically Romish theory of Purgatory and Indulgencesviz., that the wish is fruitless, that no interposition of the saints avails beyond the grave. The thought of their intercession that the discipline may do its appointed work is, indeed, not absolutely excluded, but that work must continue as long as God wills, i.e.,<\/em> till it attains its end.<\/p>\n 26<\/strong>. <\/strong> A great gulf<\/em> A chasm, or gorge; one impossible for even the disembodied spirit to overpass. <\/p>\n Fixed<\/em> Permanently established. We have thus, as far as sense can conceive, a complete view of the invisible state of the departed. Two regions there are of settled bliss and woe, with a broad impassable separation between them.<\/p>\n “And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.”<\/p>\n The further point, vividly put, is that the moment that this life is over, destinies have been determined. There can be no changes beyond the grave. There is no intermingling of those who enjoy eternal life with those who have gone to eternal death, nor can be. There is no Purgatory. What separates them is impenetrable.<\/p>\n ‘A great gulf fixed.’ The idea is of people on both sides of an unbridgeable chasm. It is a vivid physical picture portraying a spiritual reality. There is no thought of a Purgatory. It is one place or the other with no way of moving in between.<\/p>\n Luk 16:26-29<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>And besides all this, <\/em><\/strong>&c.<\/strong> “Ah poor creature! the time of mercy and hope is now over: God has fixed such a vast and unpassable distance between the happy and the miserable by an irreversible decree and sentence, that if any of us were ever so desirous to go and relieve you, it would be absolutely impossible to do it; and it is as impossible for any of your distressed company to come to us, and share in our joys, though they were ever so earnest in attempting it.” So the state of every soul at death is unalterably fixed. Then the rich man, despairing of any comfort for himself, said to Abraham, “I entreat thee, by all the tenderness of a father, to shew me, at least, so much favour, as to dispatch Lazarus to my father’s house, where I have five brethren still living, who are your offspring too, that he may acquaint them with the true state of things in the eternal world: let him tell them what a dreadful condition my sins have brought me into; and let him warn them of the danger of treading in my steps, lest they share with me in my plagues, and increase my guilt and torment for having drawn them into ruin by my example.”So, though there is no compassion or charityamong the damned, yet they are in fearful expectation of growing miseries from the reproaches of their companions in iniquity who are still upon earth; and as their punishment is already more than they know how to bear, they would fain have every thing prevented, that might add still further to their distress. To this Abraham replied, “No request can be granted to you, who are under an irrevocable sentence of damnation: and as to what you ask for your brethren, it is unreasonable: God will not go out of his appointed and settled way, to humour you or them: they have sufficient notices and warnings in the writings of Moses and the prophets, which they may read as often as they please, and which are read and preached in the synagogues every sabbath-day: if therefore they would escape the torments of the damned, and obtain the blessedness of the righteous, let them attend to those instructions which God has already afforded them.” So sinners in a state of eternal damnation will find no expedient to prevent their increasing calamities; and sinnersunder the means of grace upon earth must stand or fall according to their use or abuse of those means, having no room to expect that Godwill convert them by visions from or into the other world, or go out of his ordinary and instituted way to save them. <\/p>\n Luk 16:26<\/span> . ] Moreover, in addition to all<\/em> . Comp. Luk 3:20<\/span> . See on Eph 6:16<\/span> , and Wetstein. There follows now after the argumentum ab aequo<\/em> , Luk 16:25<\/span> , still the argumentum ab impossibili<\/em> for the non-compliance with the request.<\/p>\n ] a yawning chasm, cleft<\/em> , frequently found in the classical writers; comp. in the LXX. 2Sa 18:17<\/span> . The idea of such<\/em> a separation between the two portions of Hades does not occur among the Rabbins, among whom sometimes a separating wall<\/em> is mentioned, sometimes it is said that the intervening space is only a hand, nay, only a thread in breadth. See Lightfoot, p. 857; Eisenmenger, Entdeckt. Judenth<\/em> . II. p. 314 f. The chasm belongs to the poetical<\/em> representation; the thought<\/em> is the unalterable separation. The reference to Hesiod, Theog<\/em> . 740, where in Tartarus itself<\/em> is a (comp. Eur. Phoen<\/em> . 1599), is inappropriate.<\/p>\n ] is established<\/em> , so that it is never again closed.<\/p>\n ] purpose of the down to .<\/p>\n ] pass over<\/em> .<\/p>\n . . .] omitting the article before : and therewith they may not cross over thence to us<\/em> . The subject is self-evident. The Recepta<\/em> would have to be explained either, with Buttmann, by supplying , or as a case of attraction instead of , Khner, II. p. 319. Comp. Plat. Cratyl<\/em> . p. 403 D; Thuc. viii. 107. 2.<\/p>\n 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come<\/em> from thence. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Ver. 26. There is a great gulf fixed<\/strong> ] viz. By the unmovable and immutable decree of God, called mountains of brass, Zec 6:1<\/span> , from between which all effects and actions come forth as so many chariots. . Firmissimum Dei statutum.<\/em> Jansen. <\/p>\n 26.<\/strong> ] Even if it were not so<\/em> , however, and for whatsoever reason, God’s decree hath placed thee there thy wish is impossible<\/em> .<\/p>\n <\/strong> ] In the interpretation, the irresistible decree then<\/em> truly so, but no such on earth<\/em> by which the Almighty Hand hath separated us and you, in order that,<\/strong> not merely so that<\/em> , none may pass it. In the graphic description, a yawning chasm impassable.<\/p>\n <\/strong> ,<\/strong> is fixed<\/em> for ever. This expression precludes all idea that the following verse indicates the beginning of a better mind in the rich man.<\/p>\n Luk 16:26<\/span> . The additional reason in this verse is supplementary to the first, as if to buttress its weakness. For the tormented man might reply: surely it is pressing the principle of equity too far to refuse me the petty comfort I ask. Will cooling my tongue increase beyond what is equitable the sum of my good things? Abraham’s reply to this anticipated objection is in effect: we might not grudge you this small solace if it were in our power to bring it to you, but unfortunately that is impossible. ( , T.R.) , in all those regions<\/em> : the cleft runs from end to end, too wide to be crossed; you cannot outflank it and go round from Paradise to the place of torment. With the phrase means, “in addition to what I have said”. , a cleft or ravine (here only in N.T.), vast in depth, breadth, and length; an effectual barrier to intercommunication. The Rabbis conceived of the two divisions of Hades as separated only by a wall, a palm breadth or a finger breadth ( vide<\/em> Weber, Lehre des Talmud<\/em> , p. 326 f.). implies that the cleft is there for the purpose of preventing transit either way; location fixed and final.<\/p>\n Luke<\/p>\n DIVES AND LAZARUS<\/p>\n Luk 16:19 – Luk 16:31 <\/strong> .<\/p>\n This, the sternest of Christ’s parables, must be closely connected with verses 13 and 14. Keeping them in view, its true purpose is plain. It is meant to rebuke, not the possession of wealth, but its heartless, selfish use. Christ never treats outward conditions as having the power of determining either character or destiny. What a man does with his conditions settles what he is and what becomes of him. Nor does the parable teach that the use of wealth is the only determining factor, but, as every parable must do, it has to isolate the lesson it teaches in order to burn it into the hearers.<\/p>\n There are three parts in the story-the conduct of the rich man, his fate, and the sufficiency of existing warnings to keep us from his sin and his end.<\/p>\n I. Properly speaking, we have here, not a parable-that is, a representation of physical facts which have to be translated into moral or religious truths-but an imaginary narrative, embodying a normal fact in a single case. <\/p>\n <\/strong> The rich man does not stand for something else, but is one of the class of which Jesus wishes to set forth the sin and fate. It is very striking that neither he nor the beggar is represented as acting, but each is simply described. The juxtaposition of the two figures carries the whole lesson.<\/p>\n It has sometimes been felt as a difficulty that the one is not said to have done anything bad, nor the other to have been devout or good; and some hasty readers have thought that Jesus was here teaching the communistic doctrine that wealth is sin, and that poverty is virtue. No such crude trash came from His lips. But He does teach that heartless wallowing in luxury, with naked, starving beggars at the gate, is sin which brings bitter retribution. The fact that the rich man does nothing is His condemnation. He was not damned because he had a purple robe and fine linen undergarments, nor because he had lived in abundance, and every meal had been a festival, but because, while so living, he utterly ignored Lazarus, and used his wealth only for his own gratification. Nothing more needs to be said about his character; the facts sufficiently show it.<\/p>\n Still less needs to be said about that of Lazarus. In this part of the narrative he comes into view simply as the means of bringing out the rich man’s heartlessness and self-indulgence. For the purposes of the narrative his disposition was immaterial; for it is not our duty to help only deserving or good people. Manhood and misery are enough to establish the right to sympathy and succour. There may be a hint of character in the name ‘Lazarus,’ which probably means ‘God is help.’ Since this is the only name in the parables, it is natural to give it significance, and it most likely suggests that the beggar clung to God as his stay. It may glance, too, at the riddle of life, which often seems to mock trust by continued trouble. Little outward sign had Lazarus of divine help, yet he did not cast away his confidence. No doubt, he sometimes got some crumbs from Dives’ table, but not from Dives. That the dogs licked his sores does not seem meant as either alleviation or aggravation, but simply as vividly describing his passive helplessness and utterly neglected condition. Neither he nor any one drove them off.<\/p>\n But the main point about him is that he was at Dives’ gate, and therefore thrust before Dives’ notice, and that he got no help. The rich man was not bound to go and hunt for poor people, but here was one pushed under his nose, as it were. Translate that into general expressions, and it means that we all have opportunities of beneficence laid in our paths, and that our guilt is heavy if we neglect these. ‘The poor ye have always with you.’ The guilt of selfish use of worldly possessions is equally great whatever is the amount of possessions. Doing nothing when Lazarus lies at our gate is doing great wickedness. These truths have a sharp edge for us as well as for the ‘Pharisees who were covetous’; and they are wofully forgotten by professing Christians.<\/p>\n II. In the second part of the narrative, our Lord follows the two, who had been so near each other and yet so separated, into the land beyond the grave. <\/p>\n <\/strong> It is to be especially noticed that, in doing so, He adopts the familiar Rabbinical teaching as to Hades. He does not thereby stamp these conceptions of the state of the dead with His assent; for the purpose of the narrative is not to reveal the secrets of that land, but to impress the truth of retribution for the sin in question. It would not be to a group of Pharisaic listeners that He would have unveiled that world.<\/p>\n He takes their own notions of it-angel bearers, Abraham’s bosom, the two divisions in Hades, the separation, and yet communication, between them. These are Rabbis’ fancies, not Christ’s revelations. The truths which He wished to force home lie in the highly imaginative conversation between the rich man and Abraham, which also has its likeness in many a Rabbinical legend.<\/p>\n The difference between the ends of the two men has been often noticed, and lessons, perhaps not altogether warranted, drawn from it. But it seems right to suppose that the omission of any notice of the beggar’s burial is meant to bring out that the neglect and pitilessness, which had let him die, left his corpse unburied. Perhaps the dogs that had licked his sores tore his flesh. A fine sight that would be from the rich man’s door! The latter had to die too, for all his purple, and to be swathed in less gorgeous robes. His funeral is mentioned, not only because pomp and ostentation went as far as they could with him, but to suggest that he had to leave them all behind. ‘His glory shall not descend after him.’<\/p>\n The terrible picture of the rich man’s torments solemnly warns us of the necessary end of a selfish life such as his. The soul that lives to itself does not find satisfaction even here; but, when all externals are left behind, it cannot but be in torture. That is not drapery. Character makes destiny, and to live to self is death. Observe, too, that the relative positions of Dives and Lazarus are reversed-the beggar being now the possessor of abundance and delights, while the rich man is the sufferer and the needy.<\/p>\n Further note that the latter now desires to have from the former the very help which in life he had not given him, and that the retribution for refusing succour here is its denial hereafter. There had been no sharing of ‘good things’ in the past life, but the rich man had asserted his exclusive rights to them. They had been ‘thy good things’ in a very sinful sense, and Lazarus had bean left to carry his evil things alone. There shall be no communication of good now. Earth was the place for mutual help and impartation. That world affords no scope for it; for there men reap what they have sown, and each character has to bear its own burden.<\/p>\n Finally, the ineffaceableness of distinctions of character, and therefore of destiny, is set forth by the solemn image of the great gulf which cannot be crossed. It is indeed to be remembered that our Lord is speaking of ‘the intermediate state,’ before resurrection and final judgment, and that, as already remarked, the intention of the narrative is not to reveal the mysteries of the final state. But still the impression left by the whole is that life here determines life hereafter, and that character, once set and hardened here, cannot be cast into the melting-pot and remoulded there.<\/p>\n III. The last part of the narrative teaches that the fatal sin of heartless selfishness is inexcusable. <\/p>\n <\/strong> The rich man’s thought for his brethren was quite as much an excuse for himself. He thought that, if he had only known, things would have been different. He shifts blame from himself on to the insufficiency of the warnings given him. And the two answers put into Abraham’s mouth teach the sufficiency of ‘Moses and the prophets,’ little as these say about the future, and the impossibility of compelling men to listen to a divine message to which they do not wish to listen.<\/p>\n The fault lies, not in the deficiency of the warnings, but in the aversion of the will. No matter whether it is Moses or a spirit from Hades who speaks, if men do not wish to hear, they will not hear. They will not be persuaded-for persuasion has as much, or more, to do with the heart and inclination than with the head. We have as much witness from heaven as we need. The worst man knows more of duty than the best man does. Dives is in torments because he lived for self; and he lived for self, not because he did not know that it was wrong, but because he did not choose to do what he knew to be right.<\/p>\n beside. Greek. epi. App-104. <\/p>\n is = has been. <\/p>\n gulf = chasm. A transliteration of the Greek chasma, from chasko, to gape. A medical word for an open wound. <\/p>\n fixed = set fast, established. Compare Luk 9:51 (set His face). Rom 1:11. 2Pe 1:12. <\/p>\n would = desire to. Greek thelo. App-102. <\/p>\n to. Greek pros. App-101. <\/p>\n cannot = are not (Greek. me. App-105) able. <\/p>\n neither. Greek. mede. <\/p>\n 26.] Even if it were not so,-however, and for whatsoever reason, Gods decree hath placed thee there-thy wish is impossible.<\/p>\n ] In the interpretation,-the irresistible decree-then truly so, but no such on earth-by which the Almighty Hand hath separated us and you, in order that, not merely so that, none may pass it. In the graphic description, a yawning chasm impassable.<\/p>\n , is fixed for ever. This expression precludes all idea that the following verse indicates the beginning of a better mind in the rich man.<\/p>\n Luk 16:26. , and) An argument drawn from the impossibility of the case.-) This accumulates fresh reasons for rejecting his request. Comp. , ch. Luk 3:20 [Herod added this yet to (Engl. Ver. above) all, , and ch. Luk 24:21, , beside all this.-, you) [not thee] Therefore there are many in hell.-, a gulf) viz. the distance that there is between the bosom of Abraham and hell.-, there is firmly fixed) By this word the prayer of the self-indulger is cut off hopelessly.- , they who wish) if they could.-) is said of one passing unrestrictedly and of ones self: is said of one who crosses[178] by being carried.- ) Expressed in abbreviated form for , .<\/p>\n [178] Over a river or lake.-E. and T.<\/p>\n between: 1Sa 25:36, Psa 49:14, Eze 28:24, Mal 3:18, 2Th 1:4-10, Jam 1:11, Jam 1:12, Jam 5:1-7 <\/p>\n they pass: Luk 12:59, Psa 50:22, Mat 25:46, Joh 3:36, 2Th 1:9, Rev 20:10, Rev 22:11 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Job 10:22 – the shadow of death Psa 77:8 – Is his Pro 23:32 – At Ecc 9:4 – General Isa 38:18 – they that Eze 42:20 – a separation Mat 5:26 – Thou Mat 27:4 – see Rom 9:10 – not only 1Co 10:13 – make 2Pe 1:5 – beside<\/p>\n 6<\/p>\n Gulf is from CHASMA, which Thayer defines, “A gaping opening, a chasm, gulf.” He then explains the definition to mean, “Equivalent to a great interval.” Since this gulf is impassable, it separates the objects on each side virtually as much as if they were a great distance apart. This explains the phrase afar off in verse 23. Another truth that is taught here, is that no change can be made in the spiritual classification of human beings after death; this agrees with Rev 22:11.<\/p>\n And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. <\/p>\n [A great gulf fixed.] It is well known from the poets, that inferi among the Latins comprehend the seat both of the blessed and the damned, denoting in general the state of the dead, be they according to the quality of their persons allotted either to joys or punishments. On this hand, Elysium for the good; on that hand, Tartarus for the wicked; the river Cocytus, or Acheron, or some such great gulf fixed betwixt them. The Jews seem not to have been very distant from this apprehension of things. “God hath set the one against the other, that is, hell and paradise. How far are they distant? A handbreadth. R. Jochanan saith, A wall is between.” But the Rabbins say, They are so even with one another, that you may see out of one into the other.<\/p>\n That of seeing out of the one into the other agrees with the passage before us; nor is it very dissonant that it is said, They are so even with one another; that is, they are so even, that they have a plain view one from the other, nothing being interposed to hinder it, and yet so great a gulf between, that it is impossible to pass the one to the other. That is worth noting, Rev 14:10; “Shall be tormented with fire and brimstone, in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.”<\/p>\n Luk 16:26. And beside all this. Besides the moral impropriety of granting the request, the wish was an impossible one. God has immutably decreed otherwise: there is a great gulf fixed. The figure is that of an unfathomable abyss which cannot be spanned. Here our Lord reveals what was unknown to the popular mind of that time.<\/p>\n That. In the world of departed spirits, according to our Lords imagery, where He deviates from the popular notions, a change of state is impossible; God has so ordered it. Purgatory and repentance after death find no support here.<\/p>\n The meaning is, that there neither is, nor can be, any commerce or interaction between glorified saints and damned sinners; but the state of souls at death is unalterably fixed and stated. <\/p>\n Learn, that the miserable condition of damned souls in the next world, and the blessed condition of glorified souls is unchangeably and unalterably such: the power of God is irresistible, and the will of God is invariable, the oath of God is immutable; I have sworn that they never shall enter into my rest.<\/p>\n Luk 16:26-29. Besides all this As to the favour thou desirest from the hand of Lazarus, it is a thing impossible to be granted; for between us and you there is a great gulf fixed , a great chasm, or void, is established. Dr. Campbell renders the clause, There lieth a huge gulf betwixt us and you, so that they who would pass hence to you cannot. If any should be so compassionate as to desire to help you, they are not able: neither can they pass to us who would come thence But we must still continue in an unapproachable distance from each other: the passage is for ever closed: the great gulf is for ever fixed: and whether a person be happy or miserable in a future state, each is unchangeable! Each, O solemn thought! each is eternal! Then he said, I pray that thou wouldest send him to my fathers house The rich man, finding that nothing could be done for himself, and that his own case was irretrievable, began to be in pain about his relations. He had five brethren alive, who, it seems, were living in pride and luxury, and either entertaining the Sadducean opinion concerning a future state, or living in forgetfulness and neglect of it; therefore, that he might prevent their ruin, and, if possible, ease himself of the painful reflections which he felt for having been instrumental in corrupting them, he entreated Abraham to send Lazarus unto them, in hopes it would reclaim them: for he supposed, if those in paradise could not pass to those in torment, there might be a passage from paradise to the earth, as it was evident there was from the earth thither. By making this request, the man acknowledged both his own wickedness and the principle from which it proceeded: he had either disbelieved the doctrine of a future state, or had disregarded it, had set his affections on the present world, and chosen it for his portion; and by his example, at least, had seduced his brethren into the same destructive courses. That he may testify unto them The certain truth of the immortality of the soul, and of a future state of rewards and punishments, and the infinite importance thereof; lest they also come into this place of torment He might justly fear lest their reproaches should add to his own misery. Abraham saith, They have Moses, &c. Abraham replied, that they had the books of Moses and the prophets, from which they might learn the certainty and importance of these things, if they would be at the pains to read and consider them: let them hear them Let them hearken to the warnings and instructions given them in those divine records, and they will have means sufficient to prevent their damnation.<\/p>\n And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that [would come] from thence. 26. there is a great gulf fixed ] Change of place is not a possible way of producing change … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 16:26”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25628\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"